


Boundaries in Brick

by MelodicWriter



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Ash is your typical bad boy, Boarding School, Eiji is a repressed nerd, M/M, sorry if someone wrote this au already, will add more as I write more chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 18:20:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20030242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodicWriter/pseuds/MelodicWriter
Summary: Eiji is shocked when he finds out his father is offered a job in another state. He learns that he has to move and leave his old life behind.(Banana Fish Boarding School AU)





	Boundaries in Brick

When it came to academics, Eiji didn't mind school. He kept his head down, took notes when need be, and listened to his teachers. His marks in classes were high. He found it rather easy. School came natural to him in that aspect.

The grades were one thing. The environment of public school, however, wasn’t his favorite. He did his best to ignore the obnoxious antics from people around him. When it got to be too much, he reminded himself that he was there to learn. Not to socialize and hang out.

The sentiment was strange to many. Most of his peers used their High School years exactly for this purpose. In class, students either whispered to one another or were glued to their phones. It annoyed Eiji to hear their text tones sound every couple minutes. He did his best to ignore it and pay attention to whatever the teacher was lecturing about.

Overall, Eiji’s High School experience was average; middle of the road. He wasn’t getting mercilessly bullied, but he also wasn’t the life of the party and popular either. No, he was just average. To an extent, he was fine with that. Better than getting tormented day after day.

School was school; yet another duty expected of him. He had been in school for almost the entirety of his life and in a way, he was used to it. That’s why he was surprised when his mom sprung something on him that night at dinner.

Tonight was pizza night. Eiji’s mom did the cooking in the Okumura household and once a week, she wanted a break. Eiji couldn’t say he minded. Pizza was pretty good.

He grabbed a slice from the delivery box and set it on his paper plate. He waited for his mom and sister to take their pieces. Though one slice certainly wouldn’t fill him, he always waited for everyone to have their share before he went to get more. It was only fair.

"How was school today?" Eiji’s mom asked, pouring herself a glass of water from the pitcher that was at the center of the table. Eiji took a bite of his pizza. He answered her once he swallowed.

"Good."

Not completely the truth, but not completely a lie. His day was neither good nor bad. It was just... a day. Saying a one word response was easier than getting into the specifics. Those he kept to himself.

"And how about you?" She turned to Eiji’s sister. "I hear you have a parent teacher conference coming up."

The young girl shrugged and stuffed her face with pizza. She devoured the slice, red sauce staining her mouth.

"I guess."

Eiji tuned out the rest of the conversation and focused on eating. He didn’t talk much at dinner. He didn’t talk much in general. More than once had the few people he talked to over the years referred to him as a 'shy boy'.

He didn’t mind being shy. There were a lot worse things he could’ve been called, and he usually heard them thrown around in the hallway.

When dinner wrapped up and it was just Eiji and his mom at the table, he noticed that she cleared her throat more than once. It was strange to him. 

Not only that, but she looked nervous; wringing her hands together in her lap and looking side to side. He almost asked what was on her mind, but she beat him to it.

"Eiji?"

"Yeah?"

"How do you like school?"

"It’s fine." An honest answer. Eiji saw no reason to lie. School was school. It had its purpose. 

"If you couldn’t go there anymore, would you miss it?"

Eiji tilted his head. His mother didn’t usually ask weird hypotheticals like that. What was up?

"I dunno. Probably not."

"Good, good." She inhaled deeply and Eiji heard her foot tapping on the hardwood floor. "There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you."

Eiji figured that much. "What is it?"

Another deep breath. The dining room was silent. The only noise in the house came from the hum of the television in the family room. His sister was probably sat in front of it, watching whatever show had her latest celebrity crush featured.

His mother fidgeted with her wedding ring, twisting it around her finger. She took one more breath before speaking.

"Well... You see, your father got a job offer."

Eiji's dad worked a lot. So much so that he usually missed dinner (like tonight) from being at work late.

"A job offer? That’s great." Their family wasn’t that well endowed. More times than not were they running low on cash. A job offer was good news, but it didn’t explain his mother’s nerves. She should be smiling and filled with excitement. Instead, she refused to meet Eiji’s eye. 

"Yeah. The only problem is that it’s in another state."

Eiji didn’t know how to feel upon hearing the news. Was he supposed to feel happy? Sad? He didn’t have a clue. He was trying to process what she had said. For his entire life, he had lived in pretty much the same place (minus when he came over from Japan at a young age). The thought of being in a completely different part of the Country was intimidating.

"Eiji?"

Right. He was so busy wrapping his head around the bombshell that he forgot to respond. Oops.

"Yeah... Sorry. I don’t know what to say."

"You’re not upset, are you?"

"I’m not sure."

"Take your time. I’ll answer any questions you have."

Eiji asked the first question that came to mind, blurting it out.

"Is he going to take it?"

"Yes."

So it was for certain.

"Are we going to have to move?"

Eiji’s mom nodded. "The job is permanent. Not some temporary thing. All of us would move there with him."

"When is this going to happen?"

"Within the next week or two."

Not much time.

"Okay. May I be excused?"

"Of course."

Eiji ducked out of the kitchen and walked up the stairs to his room. He locked the door behind him, making sure it was secured. The last thing he wanted was someone barging in.

He glanced out his window at the setting sun. Night would be there soon, filling his room with an inescapable darkness. He supposed he should turn on the lamp that rested on his bedside table. Something in him didn't want to move. He was content to lay there and stare.

After some unclear amount of time passed, a knock came at his door, accompanied with his mother's voice.

"Eiji Sweetheart, I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Night," He called back. Her footsteps retreated down the hall, ending with the noise of a door closing firmly. Eiji looked up at the ceiling and sighed. He still had homework he had to get done.

Reluctantly, he hauled his backpack up on the bed and pulled out his math worksheet. The numbers all looked like irrelevant squiggles. He had no idea how he was going to focus long enough to get through the exercises. His mind strayed even the _second_ he attempted to work through a problem.

Eiji became frustrated. He threw his backpack and the sheet on the floor and covered himself with his blanket. He was moving in a week. Homework didn't matter when he was going to have to start over anyways. An assignment could go not completed.

Eiji had a tendency to dwell on his emotions, marinating in them like a stew, until he was so upset it was all he could think about. Not tonight. He didn't care. Sleep was more appealing than letting his mind run wild. Eiji closed his eyes and let himself drift off into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to sleep and was hit with this idea for an AU. Not my main fic so I don't know how much I'll update. Also not sure how many chapters it’ll be.


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